I read a lot of soccer blogs, news, and watch a lot of soccer… not only the news channels, but probably 2-3, or 4 games on TV a week. I coach 5-6 days a week, so I am pretty submerged in the beautiful game. One of the articles I recently read was posted on 3-4-3, [...]

In the most recent U.S. National team performances, the USMNT in the Gold Cup and  the U17 boys in the U17 FIFA World Cup, the U.S. displayed where we stand as a nation of soccer players. We aren’t good, not even close. We can excuse the U17 boys for their loss in the quarterfinals due [...]

Getting shouted at makes you work harder, but kills your creativity, according to a new study published by the Journal of Applied Psychology (via Paul Kedrosky). The authors examine whether and how observing anger influences thinking processes and problem-solving ability. In 3 studies, the authors show that participants who listened to an angry customer were [...]

Hands down the best coaching course I’ve taken. The theory is extremely rich and provides a solid foundation for why  and how to create developmentally appropriate training sessions and youth programs. The week is definitely demanding because it gets coaches out of the normal “coach centered” approach of running a practice and introduces the concept [...]

By Dev K. Mishra, M.D. Here’s a revelation: eat the least processed food you can find. Right, that’s not a revelation. You’ve heard it before but it’s not an easy thing to do when feeding the typical American teenage athlete. But it can be done, especially if you try to stick to the 80/20 rule [...]

Dan Coyle is the bestselling author of “The Talent Code” a book that discusses and highlights the learning recipe he’s found necessary to create talent. Those things are: Deep Learning (10,000 hours) Immediate feedback Repetition Coaching to oversee and direct the learned behavior   Here is a quick video of his presentation for U.S. Soccer. [...]

These five principles of defensive play are the key to good team and individual defending at all levels of the game. Pressure/delay – To prevent attackers from penetrating your defense, the first defender (the player nearest to the ball) should apply immediate pressure to the ball carrier. His objective is not to win the ball, [...]

I recently took the NSCAA Director of Coaching Diploma and enjoyed the 2.5 days of intensive instruction very, very much. The course is full of information and the coaches, both the instructors and the course participants, have a lot of valuable information and perspectives to share. The DOC course is meant for those coaches who [...]